There's one business on Wall Street that has suddenly 'become a lot more interesting'

You could hear it in every earnings call and see it in every
analyst note. There's a lot going on in the world, and one
group of traders stands to benefit.

From JPMorgan to Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs to Citigroup,
executives highlighted their macro trading businesses, the units
that help clients bet on moves in interest rates and in the
foreign-exchange market — the financial instruments most
sensitive to shifting political winds and economic uncertainty.

There are suddenly lots of triggers for moves in those markets.
Here's a selection of notable comments:

"If you look at what's going on in the markets, a lot of
activity. There's movement in currencies, in rates, in oil, and
in equities. It's a rare time when there's a lot in motion. I
think it's a market that honestly screams for you to have a view,
and with that comes activity," James Gorman, Morgan Stanley CEO,
said in an interview with CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.

"Our macro businesses benefited from increased volumes in
rates and repositioning in FX as the markets re-priced the path
for US monetary and fiscal policy following the election,"
Jonathan Pruzan, Morgan Stanley CFO, said on an earnings call.

"As the world gets a little growth here, and as rates get
raised and as people anticipate further raising of interest
rates, those markets, of course, become a lot more interesting,"
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs CEO, said in an interview with
CNBC in Davos.

"What we saw from clients in the second half of the year was
basically a build of confidence and expectation that we might see
stronger fiscal policy, divergence of interest rates, that we
weren't heading into a deflationary cycle, more confidence about
economic growth, and so I would say there was increased optimism
around the world," Harvey Schwartz, Goldman Sachs CFO, said on an
earnings call.

"It was a strong performance in the quarter, and we would
expect that to continue at it's much more interesting to for our
clients to trade around a moving yield curve and rates above
zero, so as we see rates normalize we would fully expect that to
be ultimately a beneficiary to the franchise in terms of clients
trading and positioning and hedging around that over time,"
Marianne Lake, JPMorgan CFO, said on an earnings call.

"Rates and currencies grew roughly 30% year-over-year,
reflecting strong client activity and a more favorable
environment continuing on the positive momentum that began to
build in the second quarter," John Gerspach, Citigroup CFO, said
on an earnings call.

In November, the Treasury market moved rapidly after the surprise
election of Donald Trump, as investors adjusted to a new set of
expectations for fiscal stimulus and inflation. In December, the
Federal Reserve hiked rates. The dollar surged through late 2016,
too, while other currencies like the Mexican peso took a hit.

Kian Abouhossein, an analyst at JPMorgan, is forecasting a 2%
increase in fixed income, currencies, and commodities revenues in
2017, with macro products like rates and FX expected to drive the
increase.

"We believe that ongoing global political uncertainty (Brexit,
French/Dutch/German elections, US trade policies, etc.) are
likely to result in good client volatility in FX and rates
leading to healthy trading volumes," he said in a note.